Water Wars: The PRC's Double Trouble in the South China Sea

Oct 31, 2015 | Zack Bluestone
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The past few days have witnessed two huge developments in the South China Sea. On Tuesday, the U.S. Navy conducted a long-anticipated freedom of navigation (FON) patrol in the Spratly Islands. Two days later, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear the Philippines v. PRCmaritime case. Given the magnitude of the arbitral decision and U.S. FONOPS, this week’s post will focus exclusively on these two events. Next Friday, we’ll return to our normal format and circle back to other developments from this past week.